Team of runners finish 1,000 mile marathon, break world record to honor former Penn State track and field member Kevin Dare

A scholarship endowment commemorates the death of Kevin Dare, the Penn State track and field member who landed head first after a failed pole vault at the 2002 Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships and died shortly thereafter.

But a group of runners from across Pennsylvania and the country wanted to do more.

View full sizeLife Back on Track Relay photoEast Pennsboro High School graduate Ryan Blood, left, hands off the baton to fellow Lock Haven University graduate Nick HIlton on Day 2 of the run.

With that in mind, 10 runners set out from Minnesota on Monday with two goals for the Life Back on Track relay: to honor Dare and to break the world 1,000-mile marathon record held by a team of South African runners. As they eased around the Penn State track for the final time early Friday afternoon, the record was clearly in the bag. Needing to best just under 99½ hours, they did it with ease, finishing in 95 hours, 3 minutes, and 1 second to take the record and honor Dare’s legacy.

“We were talking about different ideas to honor Kevin with the Kevin Dare Foundation, and I knew Kevin passed away here in Minneapolis, and from here to State College is 1,000 miles,” said runner Luke Walton, who’s earning his doctorate at Penn State but hails from Minnesota.

The challenge seemed crazy at first, admitted run organizer Ryan Foster, but he quickly found nine runners to join him. After he stumbled across the world record, it was all systems go.

“I don’t really know exactly how it happened, but we wanted to run a cross-country race to honor Kevin with the foundation, and once we decided on 1,000 miles, I found the record and went to the guys to see if they wanted to do it,” Foster said “They said if you want to do it, we’re in. We just started planning it and did it.”

Foster, Walton, Dennis Pillow, Brian Fuller, Teddy Quinn, Vince McNally, Owen Dawson and Kyle Dawson have a direct connection to Penn State through coaching or competing. East Pennsboro High School graduate Ryan Blood and four-time All-American Nick Hilton are Lock Haven University graduates who rounded out the squad.

Dare’s mother, Terri, was blown away by the effort.

“This race keeps the legacy going for our son, and he always wanted to help people. This marathon will help people,” she said. “When they told me about this, I said ‘Are you sure you can do this?’ And they did. There were times they’d come in with hurt knees and stuff, but they put it together and crushed the record.”

The Kevin Dare Foundation was founded in 2004 with the idea of increasing safety awareness and providing safety equipment. The foundation owns 2,500 ASTM approved helmets and numerous soft boxes, but also recently introduced the Life Back on Track scholarship endowment for high school athletes who suffered debilitating injuries.